Posted on 05/30/2008 5:27:31 AM PDT by The_Victor
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a departure from her normally staid diplomatic duties, Rice met the legendary glam rock quartet when they happened to share a hotel in the Swedish capital. Rice was in Stockholm on Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out gig to play on Friday.
"I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.
"It was really fun to meet Kiss and Gene Simmons," she told reporters, noting they seemed well informed about current events. The band had asked if she could stop by after she finished dinner with the Swedish foreign minister and Rice readily agreed, she said.
Simmons and his crew, who are on a European tour, weren't wearing their trademark stage makeup, but were recognizable as rock stars to even non-fans by their hair, according to State Department officials who were with Rice.
Rice, a classically trained pianist, said she has eclectic musical tastes ranging from Beethoven to Bruce Springsteen. Hard stadium rockers like Kiss are included in the mix and Rice said her favorite tune of theirs is "Rock and Roll All Nite."
But, she conceded she had never seen the group in concert.
In fact, although she frequently attends classical music performances, Rice claims to have been to only four rock concerts in her life. The first was in the early 1960s when she went as a 10-year-old to see Paul Revere and the Raiders in her home state of Alabama.
After her family moved to Colorado, Rice went at the age of 16 went on her first date with an Air Force cadet to see Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. She later saw Earth, Wind and Fire in Denver and her last rock and roll show was a U2 concert in Washington, she said.
Gene Simmons: supporter of Bush and the war.
Proof that even hedonists “get it”.
Yeah. No tutti-fruttis there...
LR’s the exception, not the rule.
Return to Forever is playing in Austin tonight, but I have to miss it...maybe next time if they ever do it again.
There were a lot of gay poster idols that were used to usher out rock and roll in the 1950s. The boys were considered “harmless”.
Strange that homosexuals were considered less of a threat to the morals of this country than Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, and Buddy Holly.
I wasn’t a Kiss fan growing up. They were so overexposed. And they had wimpy ballads like “Beth” that were considered “acceptable” for things like the Jerry Lewis Telethon.
Then there was they hype about the makeup. And fans who tried to pretend that they were “different” from everyone else by wearing the SAME outfits and joining the Kiss Army.
Gotta say that it was good merchandising though. Probably not seen as effectively since the days of the Beatles and Elvis. New Kids On The Block would later hit similar levels of marketed crap. But unlike NKOTB, Kiss memorabillia still sells as does Elvis and Beatles crap (old and new stuff, from cookie jars to ties to posters).
Gene clearly was and is the brains of the monumentally successful operation.
Although I have always been about the music first, if given the offer and money, I too would put on high heels, wear makeup and strum 3 chords a show.
David Bowie in his early days, that was considered glam rock, too. The rock band Sweet of “Ballroom Blitz” (and other hits) fame.
I saw Poison and KISS in concert on a recent tour (maybe four years ago?) and both bands were very supportive of the US and the military.
Nope...just a plain pick.
The original glam rock band was The NY Dolls. (David Johanisson’s first gig.)
True. But Bowie a friggin genius. Poison was just pure crap...
A blatant and unattributed rip off of “The New York Dolls” but without the ‘punk’ edge to the music. Pop really, but played by guys in make up with Farah hair.
IMO, the real KISS is Gene, Paul, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. But Ace and Pete got really greedy, demanding a lot of stuff after their ‘98 reunion, and so Gene and Paul simply said “Sayonara”.
Gene and Paul have been working together since 1966! Yes, 1966! Ace and Pete joined in the early 70’s and then both left to pursue solo careers in the early 80’s. In the meantime, Gene and Paul built businesses made entirely up of new and innovative KISS merchandise. Ace and Pete got their cut of whatever products had their likeness(es), but after ‘98 they were both demanding equal pay and equal cuts on old and dew deals, or the same as Gene and Paul (again, both of whom have been working together, non-stop, for 42 years).
So, Gene and Paul just replaced them. I actually like Bruce Kulick better than Tommy Thayer on guitar, but Tom can hold his own as well. Eric Singer is phenomenal on drums (and frankly, much better than Pete).
dew deals = “new” deals
I would consider T Rex the first glam rock group.
Did T-Rex predate the Dolls?
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